Richard Dawkins First Editions

• The Selfish Gene — 1976 · Oxford University PressFirst edition, first printing: Oxford University Press, 1976, with no later-printing statements; OUP imprint on title page. Original dust jacket (the classic green/Desmond Morris-influenced design). First printing precedes the 1989 second edition, which adds extensive new endnotes and two new chapters — collectors want the 1976 text without the added chapters. The 1976 OUP edition is the true first (Oxford was the publisher for both UK and US). The 1989 'second edition' is textually distinct and far more common; only the 1976 is the first. Signed first printings are uncommon. No prominent US book-club edition; the main confusion is between the 1976 first edition and the much more common 1989 expanded second edition and later anniversary editions. Check for the 1976 date and absence of the added chapters/preface.
• The Extended Phenotype: The Gene as the Unit of Selection — 1982 · W. H. Freeman and CompanyW. H. Freeman and Company, 1982; hardcover, 307 pages, with the imprint statement reading Oxford and San Francisco. First edition, no later-printing or revised statement; priced dust jacket. ISBN 0716713586. True first is the 1982 W. H. Freeman and Company hardcover (imprint dated Oxford and San Francisco). Oxford University Press issued only the 1983 paperback, and OUP later published the 1999 revised edition with the subtitle The Long Reach of the Gene. The original record's 'UK true first (Freeman/Oxford)' framing overstated Oxford University Press's role. No BCE.
• The Blind Watchmaker — 1986 · LongmanUK Longman Scientific & Technical (Harlow/Essex) 1986, cloth in the first-state priced dust jacket. The pictorial jacket carries cover art by the zoologist and surrealist painter Desmond Morris, painted in response to the book's title, with a black-and-white photograph of the author on the lower flap and the printed price present. The UK issue precedes the US W. W. Norton issue of the same year. UK Longman Scientific & Technical is the true first, 1986; the US W. W. Norton edition followed the same year. UK precedence, identified by the Longman imprint and the Desmond Morris jacket. The UK Longman Scientific & Technical imprint is the true first; the US Norton 1986 is a later issue of the same year and carries different jacket design.
• River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life — 1995 · Basic Books / Weidenfeld & NicolsonUK Weidenfeld & Nicolson edition: part of the 'Science Masters' series; jacket with its printed price sterling. US Basic Books edition: copyright page reading 'First Edition' with a number line including the digit 1; jacket carries the printed price. Illustrated by Lalla Ward. Both the UK Weidenfeld & Nicolson and the US Basic Books editions appeared in 1995 as part of the international Science Masters series; the UK edition is generally regarded as the true first, though the interval is short. Confirm priority by imprint and jacket pricing rather than year alone. No book-club issue of note. The key distinction is UK-first versus US-first within the same year, identified by the Weidenfeld imprint and a sterling-priced jacket.
• Climbing Mount Improbable — 1996 · VikingViking, London, 1996; first edition, first printing, illustrated throughout by Lalla Ward, in a dust jacket priced in sterling on the flap. ISBN 0670850187. The US first edition was W. W. Norton, New York, 1996, whose first printing carries a full number line including the 1. UK true first, Viking (London), precedes the US W. W. Norton edition; both are dated 1996. No prominent book club edition; confirm the Norton US first by a full number line that includes the 1 on the copyright page.
• Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder — 1998 · Allen Lane The Penguin PressUK first edition, first printing published by Allen Lane The Penguin Press. Black boards, spine lettered in gilt; full number line beginning with 1 on the copyright page. Dust jacket priced in sterling. UK Allen Lane edition is the true first, preceding the US Houghton Mifflin 1998 printing. No prominent book club edition confusion for the true first.
• A Devil's Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love — 2003 · Weidenfeld & NicolsonUK first edition, first printing, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003 (ISBN 0297829734); edited by Latha Menon. First printing has no reprint or later-impression statement on the copyright page. Bound in black boards with silver lettering to the spine; the priced first-issue dust jacket was designed by Ghost. Collection of selected essays and writings. UK Weidenfeld & Nicolson edition is the true first, preceding the US Houghton Mifflin 2003 printing; first-thus as a collection. No prominent book club edition confusion for the true first.
• The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution — 2004 · Weidenfeld & NicolsonUK first edition, first printing published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson; co-authored with Yan Wong. Priced dust jacket. Note the UK first-edition subtitle is 'A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life,' not 'Dawn of Evolution.'. UK Weidenfeld & Nicolson edition is the true first, preceding the US Houghton Mifflin 2004 printing. No prominent book club edition confusion for the true first.
• The God Delusion — 2006 · Bantam PressUK first edition, first printing published by Bantam Press, London; full number line on the copyright page. Black boards lettered in gilt to spine with publisher's device to foot, red endpapers; dust jacket priced in sterling, unclipped, with jacket illustration by Norma Blair. UK Bantam Press edition is the true first, preceding the US Houghton Mifflin 2006 printing. No prominent book club edition confusion for the true first.
• The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution — 2009 · Bantam PressUK first edition, first impression, Bantam Press, London, 2009, ISBN 978-0-593-06173-2, bound in black cloth boards in a priced dust jacket (the printed price should be present on the front flap). A first printing shows a complete number line on the copyright page. Illustrated with color plates and line drawings. UK Bantam Press edition is the true first, preceding the US Free Press 2009 printing (published September 2009). No prominent book club edition confusion for the true first.
• The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True — 2011 · Bantam PressUK first edition, first impression published by Bantam Press (an imprint of Transworld Publishers) in 2011, released 15 September 2011 in the UK ahead of the US edition of 4 October 2011; illustrated throughout in color by Dave McKean. The first printing is identified by a complete number line running 10 down to 1 on the copyright page. Bound in cream papered boards with gilt lettering to the spine, with red…. UK Bantam Press edition is the true first for this illustrated title, preceding the US Free Press edition by about three weeks. No prominent book-club edition confusion for the true first; confirm the full 10-to-1 number line to distinguish the first impression from later printings, whose lines no longer end in 1.
• An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist — 2013 · Bantam PressUK first printing from Bantam Press (Transworld imprint) with a full descending 10-to-1 number line on the copyright page, the lowest number 1 indicating the first printing, and the first-issue priced dust jacket. First volume of Dawkins's memoir. The UK Bantam Press hardcover and the US edition (published under HarperCollins/Ecco) were both released on 12 September 2013, so this was a simultaneous UK/US publication rather than a clear UK-first. Collectors treat the Bantam Press printing as the true first, but priority over the US issue is not clear-cut. No prominent book-club edition.
• Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science — 2015 · Bantam PressUK first printing from Bantam Press (Transworld imprint) with a full descending 10-to-1 number line, the lowest number 1 indicating the first printing, and the priced dust jacket. Second volume of Dawkins's memoir (ISBN 9780593072554). UK true first (Bantam Press, September 2015), preceding the US Ecco/HarperCollins edition, which followed later in September 2015. No prominent book-club edition.
• Science in the Soul: Selected Writings of a Passionate Rationalist — 2017 · Bantam PressUK first printing from Bantam Press (Transworld imprint) with a full descending 10-to-1 number line, the lowest number 1 indicating the first printing, and the priced dust jacket. First edition of this essay collection. UK true first (Bantam Press, 2017); first appearance of this selected-writings collection. No prominent book-club edition.
• Outgrowing God: A Beginner's Guide — 2019 · Bantam PressUK first printing from Bantam Press (Transworld imprint) with a full descending 10-to-1 number line, the lowest number 1 indicating the first printing, and the priced dust jacket (ISBN 9781787631212). UK true first (Bantam Press, September 2019). Note the UK edition carries the fuller subtitle 'A Beginner's Guide to Atheism'; the US edition (Random House) uses 'A Beginner's Guide'. No prominent book-club edition.
• Books Do Furnish a Life: Reading and Writing Science — 2021 · Bantam PressUK first printing from Bantam Press (Transworld imprint) with a full descending 10-to-1 number line, the lowest number 1 indicating the first printing, and the priced dust jacket (ISBN 9781787633681). UK true first (Bantam Press, 2021). The UK edition carries the subtitle 'An electrifying celebration of science writing'; the subtitle 'Reading and Writing Science' is used on the US Pegasus edition. No prominent book-club edition.
• Flights of Fancy: Defying Gravity by Design and Evolution — 2021 · Head of ZeusUK first printing from Head of Zeus (Apollo imprint), illustrated by Jana Lenzova, with a first-issue priced dust jacket. First edition of this illustrated work. UK true first (Head of Zeus / Apollo imprint, 2021). The US and UK issues are the same Head of Zeus edition sharing one ISBN under the same title; there is no separate US title. No prominent book-club edition.
• The Genetic Book of the Dead — 2024 · Head of ZeusHead of Zeus (UK) first printing, published October 2024, hardcover in a priced dust jacket; subtitle 'A Darwinian Reverie.' Lavishly illustrated with photographs and artwork by Jana Lenzova (illustrator of Dawkins's Flights of Fancy). A number line printed on the copyright page indicates the printing; the first printing carries no later-printing statement. UK true first (Head of Zeus, 2024); this is the earliest edition, published from world all-language rights acquired directly from the author. No book club edition.

More Nonfiction & Memoir shelves: Richard F. Burton, Robert A. Caro, Ron Chernow, Samuel Johnson, Stephen E. Ambrose, Stephen Hawking.

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